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2013/10/30

Un jour special avec l’Orchestre Symphonique de Toronto



Aujourd’hui c’était un jour super cool!  J’ai passé le jour avec TSO!

J’ai assisté à une répétition de TSO par l‘aide de Josh et Sarah de TSO.  Voici une photo de moi avec mon père et Sarah, qui nous a expliqué le programme.



J'avais peur que je pourrais éternuer, mais je ne l'ai pas!

L’orchestre a répété deux pièces:  “Thomas Adès' Dances from Powder Her Face” et “Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Op. 31”.


La pièce d’Adès a été compose en 1995 et ce sera la première de cette oeuvre en Canada. J’aime beaucoup l’ouverture, elle a un “feel tango”.


J’ai bien aimé le Sérénade de Benjamin Britten, mieux que sur les disques.  Le tenor était Nicholas Phan et Neil Deland était soloist de cor. Ils ont travaillé sur des choses comme l'humeur, le phrasé et ce que Benjamin Britten pensée était important. Pour “Elegy”, ils essayaient d'obtenir la sensation de la nuit tombant.


Pendant la pause de répétition j'ai rencontré le premier violon Jonathan Crow du TSO. Nous avons parlé des chansons que j'apprends sur le violon. Il m’a dit qu'il connaît mon professeur de violon.


J’ai parlé avec Teng Li, le chef de viola.  Elle plaisante que je pourrais jouer le viola aussi.  J’aimerais de l’essayer un jour mais ma mère me permet de n’apprendre que deux instruments.


J’ai demandé à la violoncelliste Roberta Janzen  comment elle se prépare avant un concert.  Quand elle a fini un programme, elle va à la bibliothèque pour chercher la musique pour la semaine prochaine.  Chaque jour elle pratique pendant quelles heures chez elle.   Parfois elle  écoute un enregistrement de la musique.  Elle peut mieux comprendre sa partie.  Elle veux être prète pour la repetition.


La meilleure partie de la journeé, c’était la reunion avec Peter Oundjian, le directeur musical de l’Orchestre symphonie de Toronto.

Je me souviens encore de la première fois que je l'ai vu. C’était le concert de Noël et l’orchestre a joué “Sleigh Ride” (version de Liberace).  Je l’adorais!  Après ce concert, je revais d’être un chef d’orchestre.

Nous avons parlé un peu de la musique l’orchestre vient de répéter.  Le tempo a changé souvent et Peter Oundjian a utilisé ses mains pour montrer le temps.  Ils ont travaillé sur la sensation de danse de la pièce. Il a même utilisé son corps pour montrer le rythme.

J'ai même joué une chanson pour lui. J'ai joué un des morceaux du cinquième année - Study in G Major de Czerny.

Peter Oundjian se prépare pour un concert en effaçant sa journée à partir de 2 ou 3 heures pour qu'il puisse se concentrer sur ce qu'il a à faire ce soir-là. Pour moi, quand je prepare pour un concert, je fais le même chose.  I ne regarde pas la télé ou allumer l’ordinateur. (Parfois je joue avec le Lego.)



Je voudrais dire un grand “merci” à Josh et Sarah, tous les musiciens de TSO, surtout  Jonathan Crow, Teng Li, et Roberta Janzen, et aussi à Peter Oundjian pour une expérience  merveilleuse.


Merci à mon professeur de français pour m'aider avec ce blog.

A Special Day at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra


Today was the most amazing day!
I had an extra special day with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Josh and Sarah from the TSO arranged for me to sit in on a rehearsal.
Here is a picture of me and Dad with Sarah. She went through the program with us.

I was a little nervous that I might sneeze, but I didn't! 


They were rehearsing Thomas Adès' Dances from Powder Her Face and Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Op. 31.

Dances from Powder Her Face was composed in 1995 and it's the first time it's being performed in Canada! I really liked the Overture! It had a tango feel.

I loved Benjamin Britten's Serenade. It was even better than the recordings I've heard. Nicholas Phan performed the Tenor solo and Neil Deland was the Horn soloist. They worked on things like mood, phrasing and what Benjamin Britten thought was important. For Elegy they were trying to get the feel of night falling.  


During the rehearsal break I got to meet the TSO's Concertmaster Jonathan Crow.  We talked about the songs I'm learning in violin. It turns out that he knows my violin teacher!

I also spoke with Teng Li, the Principal Viola. She joked that I should switch to playing viola. I'd really like to try it one day but my Mom will only let me study two instruments.

I asked cellist Roberta Janzen how she prepares for a concert. She told us that after one program is done she goes to the library to pick up her music for the next week. She practices her part at home for a few hours each day and sometimes she listens to a recording so she can hear how her part fits in. She makes sure she knows it before rehearsal with the full orchestra.

The best part of the day was getting to meet the TSO's Music Director, Peter Oundjian!


I can still remember the first time I saw him Conduct the TSO. It was a Christmas Concert and they played a Liberace version of Sleigh Ride and I loved it. After that I wanted to be a Conductor too. 

We talked for a bit about the piece that they rehearsed.
The tempo changes a lot and he uses his hands to show the time. They were working on the dance feel of the piece. He even used his body to show the rhythm. 

I got to play a song for him!
I played one of my Grade 5 pieces - Study in G Major by Czerny.

Peter Oundjian prepares for a concert by clearing his day from 2 or 3 o'clock so he can focus on what he has to do that evening. When I have to perform I kind of do the same thing. I don't watch TV or turn on the computer. (Sometimes I will play with Lego though.)


 I want to say a big "Thank you" to Josh and Sarah, all of the TSO musicians especially Jonathan Crow, Teng Li, and Roberta Janzen, and to Peter Oundjian for such a wonderful experience!



2013/10/27

Playing Violin for my Grandpa

Today was a very special day. We went to Mount Pleasant Cemetery to visit my Grandpa, his brothers, sister and his Mom. My Grandpa used to play the violin and Mom got permission for me to play the violin at his grave.




I wish I could have played for him when he was alive.

2013/10/23

Gibson House Museum

Today, Mom and I went to Gibson House. 

David Gibson was a Land Surveyor in Upper Canada who migrated from Scotland. He was one of the ring-leaders of the 1837 Toronto Rebellion. Gibson fled to the United States. There was a reward of £500 if someone would turn him in. It was the same amount for Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount who were both executed for their involvement in the rebellion. (Read more about them in my post about the Toronto Necropolis.) 

David Gibson's house was set on fire after the rebellion but he was able to return to Toronto after the Queen pardoned the people who participated in it.


We started our tour in the kitchen and they had just done some cooking.

There was a Joseph Rainer (Whitby) piano in the house.

Here is a picture of David Gibson.

This is one of his wife, Eliza Gibson.

Inside the parlour, they had a stove to help keep them warm in the winter.

This was more in the family area, closer to the piano.

This is a picture of the male-servant's room.
His mattress was made from straw.

He'd get heat from the kitchen's stove. You could hear what was going on in the kitchen downstairs.

They put a foot bath in front of the chair.

 This was from one of the children's rooms.


They had lots of toys on display on the ground in this room.

 This mat is from the 1850s.

This was the Gibson's bedroom. It has the fanciest bed. They would probably use feathers in their mattress.

I think this was a female servant's room.

This room was probably a guest room.

This was David Gibson's Office.
I like the sign that says "Responsible Government Now!"

Here is a picture of the dining room.

The sideboard was original to the house.

The clock was also from the house.

We went back into the kitchen and we learnt about how the oven worked. It would take hours for the oven to heat up and then they'd be able to bake in it.








2013/10/20

Tour of the Toronto Necropolis


Today Mom, Dad and I went to the Necropolis. We were on a tour with the staff and volunteers from Mackenzie House.

The first stop we made was at George Brown's grave. George Brown started the newspaper called the Globe. It's now the Globe and Mail. He was involved in politics and he was even Premier of Western Canada for a couple days. The style of grave is called a Wolf Stone because his body is buried under the length of the stone so wolves wouldn't be able to dig it up.


When people needed more land in "Muddy York", they decided to move the bodies from the Potters Field which was at Yonge and Bloor. They moved most of them to the Necropolis and some were moved to Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

The reason why we came on this walk today was that we wanted to learn more about the Toronto Rebellion in 1837. We saw the grave site of Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews.

They wanted to have a better form of government and they died because they were involved in the Toronto Rebellion.
They were both hanged.

Bruce Beaton played the part of Samuel Lount and he let us know some of the things that Samuel Lount might have been thinking as he was coming closer to his execution.
Samuel Lount was blacksmith. He was a good man and he stopped Mackenzie from burning down Sheriff Jarvis' house. He tried to go to the US after the rebellion, but he was caught and accused of treason.

He was buried in the old Potter's Field but Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews' bodies were moved to the Necropolis.

The people who were involved in the rebellion were pardoned, but it was too late for Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews. Here are pictures of the monument that was built to commemorate their deaths.
 The broken column means that their lives were cut short.


As we were walking through the Necropolis, Mom took this picture of the chapel. I liked the fall colours.

This wall shows some of the people who are buried at the Necropolis.

This is another view inside the cemetery.

I was surprised to see Bruce Beaton again. This time he played the part of William Lyon Mackenzie's son-in-law, George Lindsey. He talked about what life would have been like with the Mackenzie family.

And afterwards he played the part of George Mackenzie (William Lyon Mackenzie's son) who died in a railway accident in the United States.

We learnt a lot about William Lyon Mackenzie's family life here.


After the tour, we took a stop at Jack Layton's grave.

And we also stopped off in the chapel for a couple minutes.


Here is a picture of the outside of the chapel.

I want to say a special thank you to Chris and Alex for leading the group and a big thank you to Bruce Beaton for acting out the roles.



Here is a link to Heritage Toronto's website about William Lyon Mackenzie